Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Unexpected hail may cause crop damage

Early strawberries got bruised, fruit trees lost blooms

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED MAR 10, 2021

Strawberries show hail damage. The late winter storm that blew through Tuesday

also affected blooms on ornamentals and fruit trees. (Photo courtesy UCCE

master gardeners)

After basking in spring-like warmth, our gardens got a sudden reminder – it’s still winter!

That cold wake-up blast came in the form of fast-moving thunderstorms Tuesday, dropping pea-size hail on many parts of Sacramento. Storms lingered Wednesday along with unstable air.

What will this mean to your garden? It depends on what that hail hit.

In my Pocket-area garden, the hail knocked almost all the pink blooms off my Babcock peach tree. The flowers had only been open less than a week. I’m not sure if any bees had time to find them to pollinate. Now, I doubt I’ll have any peaches this summer.

Pea-sized hail collects on spa cover in Pocket neighborhood
of Sacramento on Tuesday. (Photo: Debbie Arrington)

Meanwhile, my strawberries were setting their first berries of spring. Those little green berries likely will develop with bruises, if they don’t rot first. They’re another loss.

The hail also beat up my large camellias, bruising the flowers and knocking several blooms to the ground.

Hail mostly punches holes in leaves, especially big floppy leaves such as cannas. It also causes little nicks on forming fruit. Much of this damage is cosmetic and won’t harm the plant.

The chilly conditions brought by those little ice cubes didn’t hang around long enough to cause frost damage. Sacramento is at the end of its frost season; our traditional “last day of frost” date is March 23. So, it’s OK to trim off damaged foliage. Plants are in spring growth mode now and should rapidly replace those leaves.

Hardest hit by hail may be succulents. Hail bruising on fleshy-leaved plants can cause lasting scars. Exposed to sudden cold, succulents also may be prone to rot. Because of this rot risk, prune off mushy foliage and stems from damaged succulents immediately to encourage new healthy growth.

If hail is in the forecast, cover succulent plants or give them shelter such as under eaves or a patio shade structure.

Will we see hail again soon? Where there’s thunderstorms, there’s a chance of hail this time of year. According to the National Weather Service, our hail risk continues until mid-May.

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

GENERAL GARDENING

An article about gardening.

Keywords:

Sacramento March blossoms cold weather fruit trees camellias weather strawberries gardening National Weather Service average last frost date weather damage hail winter

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Find our fall recipes here!

Thanks to Our Sponsor!

Local News

Sites We Like

Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Find our spring recipes here!

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Find our winter recipes here!